Of Lines and Meeting Points
by Salmiakkikarkki
Summary: Ken's shoulders were hunched, and his hands were drawn into fists in a habit of self-protection, but he needed… needed to know, even though the chances of Angemon having an answer were non-existent. "He can't be reborn, right?" - Devimon - Canon, 02, Not Beta'd.


A/N: There are few very nice Takeru & Ken reconciliation fics, and the concept is interesting, so I decided to give my own spin to it. Read and review! On another note, I'm still looking for a new Beta! PM if interested. :)

This one-shot is intended as canon, apart from the few liberties taken with the duration of the partner Digimons' Champion forms.

* * *

 **Of Lines and Meeting Points**

Ken had always been a light sleeper. Ever since he had been a mere toddler, he had felt his parents' sorrow and nightly conversations over Osamu's death to his room. As a Digimon Kaiser, he had been able to fend off the majority of his need for sleep with the help of the Dark seed. However, during the last few months, closer to a half year already, he had been unable to fend off the nightmares that plagued him by nights. His mind seemed to be unwilling to give him any forgiveness of his past.

So, it would have been an understatement to say that Ken was only a little bit afraid to sleep with Daisuke and others on their make-shift camp in the Digital World, more precisely in the woods between the Canyon Creek and the grass area housed by Numemons.

It was their first night in the Digital World as a group of six, enabled by the courtesy of the end of the school year and spring break. Takeru and Hikari had clearly the most expertise in camping in the Digital World, and with Daisuke and Miyako's spirited efforts, they had set a camp in a record time, considering their lack of expertize. The night's patrol arrangement had also been quickly decided and by an accident, Ken had been spared from having a guarding shift during the night, ExVeemon, Angemon and Miyako dividing the night into three equal shifts.

Ken's personal discomfort had only been highlighted when going to bed and laying out his night sky blue sleeping back. Everyone else seemed almost completely at ease with the situation but Ken couldn't help thinking that he was about to close his eyes and fall asleep in a place where the majority of the beings were most certainly holding at least some sort of grudge against him.

It was no surprise for Ken when he woke up only after a few hours of fretful and un-relaxing sleep gasping for air, heart pounding in his chest. Luckily Wormmon had taken up to sleep next to the other partner Digimons so Ken's restless sleep hadn't awoken anyone.

For a good ten minutes, Ken lied under the stars trying to calm his nerves and go back to sleep. The demons from his sleep were too persistent and he noticed himself dreading the idea of falling back to consciousness where everything was even more out of his control.

A diversion was clearly in order.

However, not even a walk to the make-shift toilet, or adding few blocks of wood quietly to the fire helped to ease his nerves. Being alone while everyone was asleep felt at some part cozy; cozy to be able to part of the group while not having to worry what the other's thought of him. Nevertheless, the other part of him felt even more lonely and vulnerable. Ken took a quick glance at Angemon who had taken his post about ten meters away from the fire, in a more open spot where any upcoming foes could be more easily detected.

Ken had always been a little bit hesitant when it came to Angemon, or any of the other partner Digimon in general. In child form, everyone was very friendly and happy, but even then that well-established feeling of being an outsider in the group was dominant. All the Digimon partners were always so close to their respective human counterpart and that relationship seemed to override all the others. What could they have in common with him?

The situation was made even more awkward with the higher evolution stages as the Digimons usually were more adult-like, more interested in a specific goal than into an all-around small-talk. Fortunately, they usually had very little time to socialize after the Digimons had evolved.

Ken looked at Angemon's shadowy figure again.

He really didn't want to fall back to sleep with the feelings lingering in his mind.

* * *

"Everything okay?"

Ken hadn't managed to close the distance and offer his help before the adult Digimon had already managed to alter the direction of the discussion into the direction he least wanted it to go. Despite his awkwardness, Ken managed to make a tilting nod and a sound from the back of this throat that resembled some sort of agreeing gesture.

Ken wasn't surprised that Angemon didn't respond to his answer but rather continued to analyze him with calm, unwavering stare.

Of course, he couldn't know if that was to be the case because he wasn't able to see the angel Digimon's eyes, but the situation felt like a full interrogation.

"I… I can take the next shift. You can go to sleep if you want." Ken offered, feeling even more nervous than he had thought possible when walking closer to the post.

Once again Angemon only looked at him, seeming to contemplate on the offer.

"It's okay. I can stay up for few more hours." The tall Digimon finally declined kindly.

Ken didn't know what to respond. On the other hand, he didn't want to return back to sleep and wait for the compulsory nightmare, but on the other hand, he didn't have the courage to start an argument with Angemon.

Angemon clearly waited for his response and had yet to return to duty, taking only a sparing glance at the surroundings around the camp. Ken briefly wondered if the action was only for his benefit with the angel Digimon's heightened senses.

After a few more awkward moments, Ken's subconscious seemed to decide on the course of action.

"I'm sorry. Really sorry." The dark-haired boy heard himself to blurt aloud. He knew what he was apologizing for, but the shame still run so deep that he would have wanted to run away from the spot in an instance, not knowing the reaction it would draw from Takeru's partner Digimon.

Instead, this time Ken got the impression that he had for a millisecond been able to see behind the face mask to detect Angemon's surprised raise of brows.

"For what?"

Ken was _slightly_ comforted by the calm question that seemed to give him a room in the conversation. But he didn't, _didn't_ , want to open up the question.

"I… just… wanted to apologize for the… attack with the dark spiral, back then. I'm sorry." Ken elongated with a deep bow of his head.

"It's okay." Angemon replied surprisingly swiftly, as if the answer was already decided on. And now Ken noticed himself to be surprised, moving his gaze back to Angemon, not believing what he was hearing.

Angemon seemed to detect how the fresh Chosen Child was lost for words, but in resemblance, he had nothing more to say. Ken had done evil things, but those had been a result of the Dark seed. He wasn't a being to say that it was all forgiven or that it didn't matter, because the actions themselves were dark, and therefore something he fought to the bone. But as the Takeru had admitted, Ken had changed and seemed to carry a heavy burden from his past actions. That being said, he could see how the young boy had a connection to darkness, to the Dark Ocean. However, he could understand the balance of good and evil in everything and how concluding that aloud would not help the young boy.

Ken was still visibly hesitant to have the conversation in the first place. But, once opened about, personal feelings are hard to contain, and Ken noticed himself impelled to reveal more after a long silence.

"I… I have nightmares about it all. Him." Ken confessed in his personal silent manner, as if not being entitled to have help for his personal problems. However, maybe in some way, it was his role to suffer the consequences. Maybe it was only right to predispose himself for the wrath of others. "Often the headquarters is sinking into the swirl and that thing, Devimon, just keeps laughing. I can't get out."

Angemon jerked imperceptibly even if Ken didn't notice because he was keeping his gaze downward, unwilling to acknowledge his own revelation. He hadn't told anyone about his nightmares, not even Wormmon, because he didn't want to worry the small Digimon even more. But Angemon wasn't _his_ Digimon partner. Angemon was Takeru's partner, someone who he rarely even switched words with and who had nothing to do with him. It wouldn't really matter; he just needed to tell someone because with each passing nightmare he felt more and more trapped.

Angemon was quite for a long time again, and Ken started to regret bringing his own experiences to daylight.

Truth to be told the angel Digimon didn't know what to say. Somehow, the situation Takeru had avoided with great care for putting him into had just been laid out by Ken. The answers he could have straightforwardly given to Takeru were out of use because Ken wasn't Takeru. Angemon had noticed few times over the past few months how much the two young teens could resemble each other in some aspects while being very different in others. The differences weren't big enough to hide the fact that both boys had a tendency to hide their personal problems from others, be quite aware of themselves and think through their actions and the situations they found themselves in. Now, it seemed, there was one more common feature.

Angemon knew that Takeru had his own share of nightmares. Takeru never talked about them nor had he ever been woken by them. Despite that, there were those tiny signs that told of badly slept nights, marks that Takeru had offhandedly commented to his mother to be a result of unclear nightmares. The fact that Takeru never specified his nightmares was a very clear sign for Angemon among many other small details and incidents. But none of that helped him to deal with the young boy in front of him now.

Angemon briefly wondered whether telling about Takeru's nightmares would help the two boys to cross some bridges, but he would never talk behind Takeru's back. He knew that Takeru wouldn't really mind Ken knowing on their fight with Devimon, and that the young boy would understand his reasoning — but, given the will with which Takeru had danced around the subject, it wasn't his story to tell.

"I think everyone has some sort of memories haunting them from their experiences in the Digital World." Angemon finally offered diplomatically, earning a slight offhanded nod from Ken.

Ken's shoulders were hunched, and his hands were drawn into fists in a habit of self-protection, but he needed… needed to know, even though the chances of Angemon having an answer were non-existent.

"He can't be reborn right? I mean Digimon get reborn, and I… I released his data when I made Kimeramon, so when Kimeramon was destroyed that data become free, and I…" Ken wasn't able to finish his train of thought. Not that it mattered, his final fear — one of them at least — was finally uttered aloud.

The silence between them seemed to spread into the edges of existence.

Angemon stared at him, trying to gather his own thoughts. Yes, he had thought of the situation briefly for a few times, but every time, the situation with Kimeramon had been more pressing and when finally destroying Kimeramon they hadn't had a choice, even the only available choice had cost a life.

"All Digimons, unless banished from this world, can be reborn. And the powers of Darkness can't ever be fully destroyed in the light of the balance. What results from Kimeramon can't be predicted, but what we do know is that we have become much more powerful since encountering Devimon. Devimon is no different from other evil Digimons, what matters is how much value you give to their power." Angemon concluded slowly, despite not knowing on whose benefit, his or Ken's. But it was a fact. They were stronger. It would just have to be enough. Subconsciously he noticed his gaze to flicker back to Takeru's sleeping form. The green sleeping pack and the unruly blond hear sticking from the top brought him an unexpected deja-vu that deep down seemed to grasp his stomach.

Ken, however, had seemed to accept his words, appearing a bit more confident than at the start of the conversation.

Just as Ken was about to return back to the ring around the fire, the young boy voiced the thought that crossed his mind. "You've fought with him before, Devimon?"

"Briefly. He was the first foe we encountered with the kids in the Digital World three years ago." The angel-type Digimon surmised casually. However, unlike the Digimon's other on-point replays, this time, Ken had the feeling that he was missing something from the story, and that he had finally reached that social — or was it emotional — barrier that he had accustomed to link with Angemon during the last few months. Angemon wasn't his partner Digimon, and no way in obligation towards him. The response wasn't cold, he couldn't claim that, but it was emotionally detached, factual, and to the point. But it wasn't their relationship that mattered.

Under the cloudy sky, Ken finally excused himself to try and get some sleep, leaving some of his fears with Angemon who was to look after the group for a few more hours before the dawn.


End file.
